In preparation for the board of regents upcoming decision on next year's tuition rates, ASUA will hold tuition hearings tonight on campus.

Students will be able to talk directly with regents at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University via a teleconference in the Harvill Building's video conference room.

Greg Gemson, the Arizona Students' Association task force director, said this year's hearings are particularly important because of the tuition indexing plan that was proposed last month by Regent Hank Amos.

"Students need to come out and say what they think of this proposal," Gemson said.

State universities are ranked from most expensive to least expensive based on in-state tuition rates at the senior public institution in each of the 50 states, ASUA President Benjamin Driggs said.

Driggs said Amos' plan would move the UA from their current position on that scale, number 46, to somewhere between 37th and 34th over the next seven years.

At the Arizona Board of Regent's March meeting, Amos said indexing would still keep the cost of attending Arizona's universities low and would allow students to know the annual increase long before the April tuition hearings.

Gemson said ASA is not opposed to tuition indexing but they are not in favor of Amos' plan because, over the next seven years, it could lead to some of the largest increases ever seen.

"We want prediction, but we want affordability," Gemson said.

He said the regents have good intentions in suggesting an indexing plan because it would quicken the process. He said they now spend about 25 percent of their time trying to determine tuition rates.

But, Gemson said, it would make it too easy for regents to raise tuition partly because it would eliminate student input that comes from tuition hearings.

With Amos' plan there would be a minimum increase of 6.6 percent every year, which would mean about $157 more for in-state tuition, he said. Last year's increases were between $56-$58.

Driggs said his biggest concerns with Amos' indexing plan are that it could lead to some substantial increases for students and it will set tuition according to what other schools are doing instead of depending on students and their needs.

"This takes the focus away from students," Driggs said.

Gemson said ASA agrees. It also opposes the plan because it would be unconstitutional, he said, quoting the passage, "Education in the state of Arizona shall remain as nearly free as possible," from the Arizona Constitution.

He said it would be better to index tuition according to inflation and costs in the state because they are more applicable to the UA.

ASA is lobbying for a 0-3 percent increase in tuition for in-state and out-of-state students next year.

Gemson said it is still working out what kind of long term indexing proposal it would support.

He said it would like to set it so that in-state tuition would not increase more than the consumer price index (inflation) plus 1 percent. Driggs said the regents have no long-term plan in the works for setting out-of-state tuition rates.

UA President Manuel Pacheco is also expected to attend the hearings. Pacheco will submit his tuition proposal to the regents before they vote April 25 and 26 on next year's tuition rates, Gemson said.

The hearings will be held in the Harvill Building, Room 211.